Amongst the beach-loving backpacking gringos of South America a popular topic of discussion is "Which is better – Máncora or Montañita?" After the fantabulous time I had spent in Máncora I knew it would be virtually impossible for Montañita to even come close based upon my personal experiences. Add to this the fact that there were grey skies to match those of Lima and for me it was a foregone conclusion.

When I arrived I had a little trouble finding a place with a spare bed at a reasonable price, once again triggering thoughts of converting to becoming a “planner”, something that I don't think I will ever actually go through with whilst backpacking. After a little while I found a small hostel called “Hostel de Ricky” and was greeted by a friendly Venezuelan chap called Victor Hugo who struggled to understand my desire to keep my personal space my own. The hostel was ok, but not somewhere I would eagerly recommend to anyone unless they like to have cold showers, no window and constant hassle from the male workers who outnumber the guests considerably.

As there was a severe lack of sunshine here I spent very little time at the beach, and absolutely no time surfing, or even swimming in the freezing cold sea. This did however give me an opportunity to spend some time reading, something that I did a lot of when I first got to Máncora but this soon faded. I also had plenty of time to catch up on my blog writing… something I am sure you all appreciated when then notifications came piling through!

Unsurprisingly Montañita was full of familiar faces from the time I had recently spent in Máncora which meant I was never short of people to talk to. This place also reminded me somewhat of Jericocoara in the North of Brazil in terms of its nightlife; small stalls-come-cocktail bars lined one street full of intoxicated gringos who were all heading to the one club that was to be open for business that night, which at least made decisions on where to go pretty simple.

To say I was disappointed with my time in Montañita would probably be the fairest way of expressing how I felt. When one of the most interesting things that you do in a place is watch a group of workers block pave a road, times must be hard; although I have to say they did it with an efficiency I have seen nowhere else in South America! After spending far too long waiting around to see if the sun came out I decided it was time to move on and give up on finding a beach town that could rival Máncora.

And, to top off my trip here I had my small backpack with all my valuables in stolen from me on the bus. This is really annoying as I kept it right by me rather than using the overhead storage (which to me is just asking for trouble). I must've drifted off and some bad person seized their opportunity. Not a good start to Ecuador :-( at least I had my passport and credit card in my pocket, so I can still take my flight to Galapagos and won't miss the start of my boat tour. Positive thinking! I'll just have to hope I meet someone who has a decent camera as my SLR has now gone, and I don't even have my P&S camera as backup as they were together in the bag that I usually guard with my life!!